Tag Archives: breitbart

One of the interesting things about the Doe v. Burke II appeal is the Superior Court’s reasoning that, although the complaint was dismissed under the DC anti-SLAPP statute, no attorneys’ fees were warranted because the case was not a “classic” SLAPP. The decision struck me as interesting because numerous movants have argued that their case is a “classic” or “typical” SLAPP. As I explain below, while every movant undoubtedly would like to argue that its case presents a “classic” SLAPP, routinely doing so has the potential to distract the court and could result in legitimate anti-SLAPP motions being denied because the court …

The DC Circuit has announced that the Farah v. Esquire appeal will be heard on October 3, 2013 before Circuit Judges Rogers and Brown and Senior Circuit Judge Williams. In a separate post, I will summarize the background facts giving rise to the case, the proceedings in the district court and the issues on appeal. For now, however, I thought I would take a quick look at prior defamation/libel/First Amendment decisions involving these judges. As explained below, for two of the judges on the panel, there will be a sense of déjà vu when the argument begins on October 3.

On the same day that the DC Circuit issued its decision in Sherrod v. Breitbart, which avoided deciding the “Erie” question by resolving the case on timeliness grounds, another DC federal court judge held that the DC anti-SLAPP statute can be applied in federal court, and granted the defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion. (For prior posts on the background and arguments in the Boley case, see here and here).

It has been two years since the District of Columbia’s anti-SLAPP statute first became effective. To date, anti-SLAPP motions have been granted in a Superior Court case (Lehan v. Fox), denied in a Superior Court case (Newmyer v. Huntington), granted in a federal court case (Farah v. Esquire), and denied in two federal court cases (Sherrod v. Breitbart and 3M v. Boulter). Anti-SLAPP motions have also been made in five other Superior Court cases: Snyder v. City Paper (resolved when the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the suit); Dean v. NBC Universal (dismissed as a sanction for the plaintiff’s refusal to pay the …

While the Sherrod v. Breitbart appeal has attracted a lot of attention at the DC Circuit, there is another case that could resolve whether the DC anti-SLAPP statute applies in federal court: Farah v. Esquire. There, the plaintiffs/appellants are appealing the district court’s decision granting the defendants’ anti-SLAPP and 12(b)(6) motions and dismissing their false light, defamation, and Lanham Act causes of action. As alleged in the Complaint, a May 2011 post on Esquire’s politics blog contained fictional statements by publisher Joseph Farah that he would destroy the first-run print of Jerome Corsi’s book, Where’s the Birth Certificate? The Case …

After a period of relative quiet, there has been a flurry of activity in the District of Columbia federal and state courts in cases involving the DC anti-SLAPP statute. Here’s a summary of where the various cases stand: • Sherrod v. Breitbart: The case drawing the most attention is the pending appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Sherrod v. Breitbart. There, the defendants/appellants have filed their opening brief; the District of Columbia has filed an amicus brief; Public Citizen and the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation’s Capital have filed …

The defendants in the Sherrod v. Breitbart case have filed their opening brief in the DC Circuit. As you may recall, Judge Leon’s Statement of Reasons, explaining why he denied the anti-SLAPP motion in his minute Order, stated that it was denied because: (a) the lawsuit was filed six weeks before the statute became effective and there was no indication that it was intended to apply retroactively; (b) the statute is inapplicable in federal court, which is required to apply federal procedural law under Erie; and (c) the motion was not timely made. Almost ½ of the appellate brief is …

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